Winter's Chill
by I Must Scream
Summary: She never wanted someone the way she wanted the Ice Master. She found freedom with him. But what will happen once that freedom is threatened?  TouyaOC, slight YomiOC
1. Chapter 1: The Offer

Well, this was a rather interesting idea for a YuYu Hakusho fanfic that I had for a while, and I wanted to get it just right after five years of editing and changing character development and various plot points, and I think I have done enough editing to do a fanfic that I could be satisfied with. I hope that you all enjoy this, and constructive criticism is always welcome.

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><p>Chapter One: "The Offer"<p>

I did not want to stop running. Even if my chest was on fire and I was ready to pass out, I did not want to stop. My life was on the line, and they already had Mei. I would not let my friend's sacrifice be in vain.

The dogs were closing in, they were quite fast runners for having such a bulky build. I looked behind me and immediately snapped back.

_So close._

What I needed were trees. I was rather good at climbing them, but there was nothing to be seen but open plain. I collapsed on the grass for a moment before getting up again. I looked at the horizon, and made out the shape of a large tree on the blood sky.

"There." I breathed.

My pace quickened, even though I thought it was impossible. A new vigor came with newfound hope of escaping them. I soon reached the tree and jumped onto the first branch, and climbed two more. I leaned against the bark, catching my breath before looking down. The dogs were looking up at me, their perfectly circular red eyes glowing as the darkness reached the sky. They sat down, and a few attempted to climb the trees, but none could reach me (for the moment, anyway).

"You have Mei already, so go back to your Master!" I called.

The larger dogs growled, as if they understood me. I grabbed a large, disconnected branch to hurl at them, but I hesitated and let it go.

"Go back! You stupid creatures, go back!" My throat began to hurt.

Thunder above clashed and it slowly began to rain.

_Goddamn Makai weather_.

I closed my eyes and hit the back of my head against the bark softly, almost crying in frustration.

"Leave me alone you bastards…I just want to be free." A whimper escaped my lips.

I looked down again, and the dogs were still there, their eyes glowing red. I sighed sharply again, and even if it was against my better judgment, I fell asleep right on the branch.

The rain was done by the time I woke up, thankfully, and I looked down. The dogs were still there, but they were asleep. I looked at the leaves surrounding the trees, but sighed. I was not taught in the ways of Tanuki magic by my family. I left before they could. I gently climbed down from my place and reached the muddy ground. I shuddered in disgust as the runny stuff came in between my toes.

"Fuck..." I muttered, before putting my hand over my mouth.

I looked at the dogs, and they were still asleep. I started to walk slowly, and once I thought that I was out of earshot, I looked over my shoulder and broke into a run. I swore I saw a red circle open and close after I checked, and if they were awake, I had a good start. I looked into the distance, and saw the large scrapers of Gandara. My heart sunk slightly. I knew someone who lived there who could tell my Mistress where I was, but I reassured myself that if I lay low, I should be fine. Each step took me closer to the demon metropolis, and hopefully to true freedom.

Gandara got closer and closer by the minute, and I stopped for a few minutes to catch my breath. My heart was pulsing with excitement, and long-forgotten happiness.

"There…I did it." I sighed sadly once I remembered that Mei was supposed to be standing next to me. "You died bravely."

I began to walk, but a growl stopped me dead in my tracks. I slowly turned around to see the alpha dog standing behind me, his bearing his fangs and red eyes flashing dangerously. I screamed and ran away, but the dog pounced on me and bit me on the right shoulder. I yelled out again and tried to get up, but the dead weight refused to budge.

"You damn dog!" I managed, trying to kick him off me.

He bit me on the other shoulder, earning another pained scream. The next thing I knew, the weight was suddenly lifted and I heard a deafening crack and then a thud. I was too shocked to look at what happened to the dog, but I saw a young man standing in front of me. He knelt down and looked at me with kind, green eyes.

"These herbs will help." He said.

I felt some sort of leafy substance being stuffed into my wounds.

"…Go away." I groaned. "Get your hands off me."

"These will help you, I assure it." His voice was light, and flowing.

"Go away! I want to be left alone." I said, loudly this time.

"If I did, you would lose consciousness and be subject to the other dogs surrounding this place."

I looked up at him and sighed.

"They will attack soon."

The boy chuckled. His voice was now slightly cold.

"After the stunt I pulled, they will not come near me."

"Please… do whatever you wish with me." I finally begged. "Just don't take me to Yomi."

"I had no intention of it." He said calmly.

I know that he said something else, but I was losing myself in unconsciousness. His voice echoed in my mind before I began to dream.

Once I awoke, it was night. There was barely any pain from the bites and I had been bandaged. I was also on a small, but comfortable futon in the middle of a dimly lit room. The green-eyed boy was sitting across from me. He looked up at smiled. I noticed that his hair was red, and long. I felt my very short, raggedy black hair being put to shame.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked.

I looked at him and then turned away.

"Yes." I got up from the futon, but collapsed again once I remembered how tired my muscles were.

"You kept muttering in your sleep." He pointed out, slightly bemused. "Something about having freedom forever and a young lady named Mei."

"Is that supposed to be an insult? I lost her to those goddamn dogs." I hissed.

"I did not mean it as an insult, and I am sorry."

"You are forgiven, I suppose." I looked into his green eyes again and pulled my knees to my chin.

"I am Kurama." The redhead stated.

"Kurama? As in…Youko Kurama?"

He nodded, not very surprised that I had heard of him. I looked at him with disdain in return.

"You're such a liar! You will take me to Yomi, won't you?" I got up to leave, but Kurama had gotten up and gently put a hand on my shoulder.

"Even though I do know Yomi, I will not take you to him if you are that keen on avoiding him." His voice was soft, matching the light that was thrown onto his skin.

I gave him a look, and did not avert my eyes until I sat down on the futon again. He smiled slightly and sat in front of me.

"You would not mind if I asked you some questions?" Kurama asked.

"…I guess." I shrugged and gave off an exasperated sigh.

He nodded in thanks and chose his words carefully. I was impressed with his good manners (well, good manners so far).

"You're not dressed for long travel. That, and coupled with the fact that you were muttering 'I'm finally free' in your sleep, I assume that you are a runaway?"

He was right: I was not dressed for travel. I was in a black dress, which barely covered my thighs and was held together by a thin sash. I also remembered that I was not wearing any undergarments, so I noted to be careful how I sat.

"Yes. I'd rather not talk too much about it." I hung my head to look at the wooden floor, which suddenly became the most interesting thing in the room.

He looked at me expectantly, smiling slightly.

"Mei was my only friend in that place. She was never well. It was a wonder that she made it with me halfway..." I choked slightly. I could feel the tears coming, but I held them back. "I guess she is better off dead."

Kurama put a supportive hand on my shoulder (which, thankfully, was not hurting as much anymore). I normally would have brushed off such contact, but something in my gut told me that he was actually sincere, so I allowed him to remain. I sighed softly and put my hands around my sash, allowing my dress to flow away from my body slightly. The redhead seemed surprised, and he even blushed.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Do you wish repayment for saving me?" I escaped the dress by slipping through the sleeves. It fell weightlessly onto the futon, and before he could do anything, I knelt in front of Kurama, fully exposed, my lips mere inches from his.

"I do not." He was calm, yet his face was still reddened.

I was the one to blush this time, and sat back on the futon, covering my body with my arms while looking away from him. It was silent between us, and the shadows continued to dance from the candlelight.

"I am sorry." I whispered.

"It is quite alright." He gave me my dress and sash, which I effortlessly put on.

I looked at him and then out the window.

"Why did you run away?" He broke in.

I was still looking out the window when I began to tell him.

"My new Mistress became a bitch, so Mei and I devised a plan. It went awry, as you could see." I indicated the wounds he had healed.

"Mistress?" A dark look formed in his eyes.

"Yes. In case you could not figure it out, I wa-…am, a prostitute. I was unhappily kept in a brothel." I finally looked into his eyes.

"You seemed hesitant to say was." Kurama noted, crossing his arms.

"You already forgot on how I tried to repay you for saving me?" I raised an eyebrow.

Kurama did not respond, and only got up.

"And you yearn for freedom. Even though you escaped your Mistress, you still sound very unhappy."

"Of course I am! I'll never be happy until I know that I am far away from her, where she cannot do harm to me again." I snapped.

He held his forehead in his hands, probably from the immense headache I was giving him.

"I have a key to your freedom, but you will have to go through training."

I crossed my arms and frowned at him.

"What kind of training?" I had some hostility in my voice.

"Combat training, to be precise. In the Nigenkai, there are some humans and demons who train together to protect mankind. They are very powerful, and if you truly want to escape the Makai…then this is your best option." Kurama explained.

I looked at him, utterly shocked. I wondered if I was dreaming: I encounter the reincarnation of the greatest Demon Thief in all the Makai, and now I was being offered by said boy to fight for humanity to attain my this freedom.

"I understand if you are shocked-" He started.

"Do not…baby me like that." My words did not match my shocked tone. "What the fuck is going on?"

"I assure you, I am not leading you into a trap." Kurama was earnest.

"I know that! But you to offer all this? Out of the kindness of your own heart? There must be a price!" I reached for my own sash again, but he grabbed my hands.

"There is no price, and stop trying to use your body to repay me. Your happiness is all I want."

I stood up and crossed my arms, pacing around the room. There was not much of a choice.

"Very well, then. When will we leave for the Nigenkai?" I asked.

"We will leave once you wake up. Sleep, now. Even though I can go to the Nigenkai at will, I cannot send us to the direct location."

I sighed sharply, but lied down and wished that I would fall asleep immediately. I heard him roll out another futon near mine, so that he could get rest as well.

"By the way, you never told me your name." His voice rang in the darkness.

"…Unaiga." I grunted before I closed my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: The Old City

I bet that you all were not expecting another update so fast (well, the ones who are reading this story anyway). Thank you all for tuning in and to my first reviewer -thanks for the advice on parentheses, once again!-.  
>Anyway, here is chapter two of Winter's Chill. I tried making this chapter a little longer, and I do not know when chapter three will come out, but I'm getting so many ideas every day.<p>

Happy reading!

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><p>Chapter Two: "The Old City"<p>

Kurama was right.

Right when I woke up, it was time to go. He wordlessly nudged my back and handed me a bag, which I sleepily slung over my shoulder. I arose from the futon, wincing once my muscles protested by tightening. They were doing better than last night, anyway.

"You're sure that Yomi does not know that I am here?" I asked.

"There is no way to tell. He knows whenever someone enters Gandara. But he does not know the identity immediately. Also, you were brought in an unorthodox fashion." Kurama grinned slightly.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. I followed him towards the doorway, and we both walked into the dawn.

"There's barely anyone here." I noted quietly.

"Well, it _is_ morning. Gandara usually bustles around the afternoon." Kurama said. "Well, let's get a move on. We have quite a bit of walking to do."

We began making our way towards the other edge of the city, I held my breath as we passed Yomi's dojo. Kurama seemed to noticed and ribbed me, making my breath escape in one sigh.

"I don't want him to hear me breathe!" I snarled.

"Calm down. You're with me." He said.

I eyed him suspiciously, questions arising that I really should have asked the night before.

"Won't he find it odd that you're suddenly leaving for the Nigenkai?" I asked.

"No. I told him that I was leaving today. Now just trust me, please."

I sighed in response and looked at the dojo once again. There did not seem to be any activity inside. I stopped dead in my tracks once I looked ahead, and Kurama had put a hand on the nape of his neck. A man stood a yard from us, leaning against the wall of one of the buildings. He was dressed all in black, his collar was feathery. His hair was black and glossy; his eyes were a predatory yellow. He grinned, a smile filled with filed teeth looking back at us.

"Hello Unaiga." His voice filled with malice.

He reached into his bag and pulled out an orb. My eyes widened, and before he could throw it I pushed Kurama behind another building and crouched down.

"Come on!" The redhead commanded, grabbing me by the hand and running.

"I'll find the both of you!" We heard him scream, and soon after, there was an explosion.

Kurama and I kept running, but wherever we turned, the man was there, holding one of his orbs.

"I will be merciful, Kurama, if you give me the girl that you are running with." He said, indicating me. "She is needed."

"No." Kurama had pulled out a green, spiked whip.

"The old you would have…I wish that you were still your ruthless self."

Before he could throw his bomb, Kurama cracked the weapon towards him, which wrapped around his waist.

"I'm not him." He threw the man into one of the buildings, which created a hole.

I smiled slightly at Kurama, but he seemed to notice something and held me close. There was another explosion, and all I remembered was being flung headfirst into a rock and everything going black.

"It's so fucking cold." They were my first words when I woke up.

"Seconded." I heard Kurama. "I did not see that bomb coming, and no we are in some sort of cavern. We cannot go back up since the guards are everywhere, and it's too steep to climb up, anyway."

It was very dark, and the ground was cold and damp. I heard the sound of running water nearby.

"Who was he?" Kurama demanded.

"His name is Genshi Bakudan." I breathed, shivering slightly from the cold. "He is one of my Mistress' favorite servants."

I began to get slightly worried since Kurama did not ask anything afterwards, so I decided to break the silence myself.

"So we keep going forward, then?" I asked.

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" He replied.

I sat up and looked around. It was a depressing place: the stone was porous yet black, and the while the air had pretty good circulation, it somehow smelled dead.

"I'm sorry." I muttered.

"It's quite alright." I froze, I did not intend for him to hear it.

Kurama approached me and offered his hand which I took. He helped me up, and we began to walk down the tunnels. We were silent, and we heard nothing but the shuffles of our footsteps. The journey through the tunnels was very long. I stepped on something sharp from time to time, but I paid it no mind and continued on. As we got further into the cave, I began to notice white stones and various plates strewn on the porous rock. More stones began to appear, and we soon passed of what remained of a house.

"What is this place?" I asked, looking up at the crumbling, but open gates that towered above us.

"We are about to enter the Old City of Gandara. These are the ruins of the old city that Yomi had hewn into the underground as he fought to become one of the Demon Kings." Kurama entered the ruins of the old house and returned with a sword. "You will need this, Unaiga."

I took the sword and unsheathed it. It was rusting, but was still usable.

"I've never used one, but it would be good to start learning." I thought aloud.

We passed through the gates and we saw many crumbling towers and houses. I could feel that this whole place was a death trap, ready to close in on us at any moment. Kurama wordlessly pulled me onto an incline and we began to walk on it as cautiously as we could. Before I could ask him why we could not have just stayed on our old path, I saw the answer. Right in the center of the Old City, there was a large, gaping hole.

"Yomi did that?" I asked, indicating at the hole.

"Yes. Yomi is much more powerful than others give him credit for." Kurama said.

There was a large set of stone stairs at the end of the incline, which we began to scale. There was a growling sound below us, and then the sounds of a weaker creature being mauled. Kurama continued to go up the stairs as if he did not hear anything, and I followed closely behind.

"As long as you stay quiet, they will not notice." He whispered.

Our trek through the Old City continued. Kurama guided me through the walls and helped me up if I needed help in climbing to a path. I was not totally helpless, though. I could help myself up and climb, even though some of it was a struggle. I did not want Kurama thinking that I would be a burden to him. I sort of sighed with relief at the thought of training with him and the rest of his team, as I would be a little more independent.

We stopped for a rest a few hours later, and I was pretending to sleep on the ground, curled up in a little ball. Kurama was on my opposite side, I discovered that he was not yet asleep, since he proceeded to speak.

"Why do you think your Mistress sent such powerful creatures just to retrieve you and Mei?" He asked.

"I dunno. In all honesty, I don't care, either." I was a little annoyed.

"You are not worried? That is rather foolish of you." I turned around to look at him.

"Don't say that! You're not the one who was holed up with that bitch for so many years! I don't care why, and I hope she rots…" I snarled.

Kurama sighed through his nose and sat up and positioned himself so that I was looking up at his eyes while lying down.

"Stop thinking that I am trying to antagonize you, because I am not." His voice was very calm.

He was about to say something else, but then decided against it and pulled away, going back to his place. I noticed that he did not lie down, but instead sat down and looked around the Old City, probably keeping watch. My lip twitched, feeling a twinge of guilt in my heart once I sighed. I looked over my shoulder at him quickly, and then hid my face.

"Again…it's quite alright."

I bristled and sighed again.

"_I'm so easy to read."_ I thought to myself, sitting up.

"You wish to move so soon?" Kurama asked.

"Not if you're tired." I responded.

My companion got up as well, and we started our journey again. I jumped once my bare feet touched the cold water, but I got used to it and slowly walked forward, making sure not to step on any sharp rocks. Kurama had knelt down and brought some water to his mouth from his cupped hands. He tasted it slowly, and then drank it all once he deemed it safe. I did the same, except in a more quick and pig-ish manner.

"This trek is very exhausting, but do not worry. We are almost out." Kurama chuckled.

"We'd better be." I said through mouthfuls of water.

I did not know how much more of this place I could take. There was a distant gloom in this place that was beginning to get to me. I thought I heard something shuffle behind us, but I paid it no mind. I noticed that the air was getting a bit fresher was we continued through the water, and I began to walk faster.

"I cannot wait to get out-" I began.

Something had grabbed me by the ankle in the water and took me under the water. I heard Kurama's voice scream for me, and saw that he had taken out the Rose Whip. I was pulled out of the water, and whoever it was, they pressed my back to their body.

"You've been quite the troublesome girl." Genshi said into my ear. "Mistress will be happy to see you again."

"Genshi." Kurama growled.

"Nuh-uh. You don't want to hurt Unaiga in the process, now do you?" Genshi crooned, licking my ear slightly. "The first thing…" his voice was quieter once he began to whisper to me. "…I'll do is take you to my tent, and-"

His scream was louder than I had expected, but I had done it. I was glad that Genshi did not notice that Kurama had given me a sword. Once I was released from his grip, he began to be bloodied by the thorny whip. The black haired men went down, and once the whip stopped cracking, I began to run towards him, a hideous rage burning in my body. I knelt over him and positioned the sword over his chest. I heard the crack as the blade went through the breast bone, and darker blood began to seep into the water.

"That's for Mei, you fucking bastard." I breathed.

"Unaiga." Kurama called. "Come on."

I cleaned the sword in the water and sheathed it, a hard job to do if one's hands were shaking like mine were. I walked back to him, and my heart was racing. He noticed that something was amiss.

"Oh God, I killed someone." I wanted to throw up, so I knelt on the ground and felt the stuff coming, but all that came out was the water I had drunk.

"It's alright…it was in defense." He bent down next to me and put his hand on the small of my back.

"I couldn't even kill those dogs when I had the chance to. I just couldn't…" I whimpered.

He seemed to hesitate, but he hugged me. I knew that he could not exactly relate to a first kill, but I closed my eyes. We stayed like this for what seemed like a few hours, and then he helped me up.

"In our line of work, you will have to kill." Kurama said.

I shuddered.

"Is there a way to not kill someone? Could you not just lock them up somewhere?"

"The only place with the best prison system would be the Reikai, and that _would_ require killing them. I understand that you want to avoid bloodshed, but many of the people that we face are so evil or so mentally ill that death would be more merciful." Kurama explained.

"Oh." I looked away.

We began to walk, but he still had a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"My first word of advice to you would be that you should remember that we are saving mankind, and that death is inevitable in those situations. Just make sure that the people that can be saved will be saved."

I looked at him and nodded softly, letting his words sink in. While I did not agree with them entirely, I guess it would suffice, for now. I was soon pulled away by my thoughts as I saw a bright, white light at the end of the tunnel.

"Is…is that the end?" I asked.

Kurama nodded and smiled at me. I gave him a rare, ear-to-ear grin and ran towards the exit. At first, I was blinded by the lights, but they adjusted quickly, and we were in a wilderness, plains stretching for miles.

"Excellent…we're right where we need to be. Give or take a few steps." He sounded happy, and relieved.

He sniffed the air and looked down at the ground; he began to walk and then stopped. He beckoned me over with his index finger. I saw a small hole in the ground, and it was glowing purple.

"Will we land in different places?" I asked.

"No. Well, hopefully not, anyway." He grabbed my hand.

We both jumped in at the same time, and the next thing I knew, we seemed to be flying. There were interconnected squares everywhere, and nearly everything was blue.

"Where the hell are we?" I asked, feeling my heart in my throat.

"The pseudo-space." Kurama said simply. "This place connects the Makai to the Nigenkai."

We then saw a large net of glowing yellow energy. It seemed to spark.

"…The Kakai Barrier." I observed.

We both passed through it, and it had not done me or Kurama any harm. There was a flash again, and I had fallen on the grassy ground face-first. The redhead, on the other hand, landed on his feet with grace.

"Are you alright?" Kurama was rather bemused.

"I guess. Damn dress…" I muttered.

I looked up and saw that we were in front of a rather large dojo, with a large forest and many mountains in the background. I even picked up the smell of salt water in the distance.

"Well, that was oddly kind of Genkai. She took us right to her dojo." Kurama looked at the impressive sight before him.

I was about to ask who Genkai was, but I felt a hand over my mouth and a very cold blade pressed against my throat. It was unnaturally cold, like it had been enchanted with winter.

"Touya!" The redhead had interjected, looking very surprised at the sudden attack.

Whoever it was, they let me go and I was thrown onto the ground. I looked up to see a young man who had frozen blue eyes and blue hair looking down at me. A large, icicle-like blade was connected onto his hand.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I yelled, glaring at the man with disgust. "Can't anyone give me a break?"

"Forgive me." His voice was colder than his eyes. "I thought that you were a beast that had snuck from the Makai with Kurama. Although, I should have known that whatever it was, it would not have been a threat."

I bristled with anger and glared at him.

"Are you saying that I'm weak?"

"Clearly, wow, you really catch on quickly, do you not?" Touya said, smirking as the blade disappeared so that he could cross his arms.

"N-no need to get so hostile" Kurama said.

"Too late for that." I said. "Anyway, how many more asses like this guy are around?"

There was a flash of black in front of me, and a demon clad all in black with fire-like spiky hair stood in front of me. Kurama seemed to sigh deeply.

"I felt low demon energy, and came to see what it was. But now that I see it, it's not worth my time." His voice was deeper and more raspy than the others.

"…I'm beginning to hate everyone already." I said.


	3. Chapter 3: The Others

Sorry that this chapter is slightly shorter guys, and if the pacing is not that good. This is just the chapter where Unaiga meets the others and the next will be about the beginning of the training sessions so more character relationships would be established and the main plot should be introduced soon.

Happy reading you all!

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><p>Chapter Three: "The Others"<p>

"Who's the slut puppy?" The voice was that of an old woman's, and I wheeled around to see who spoke.

It was indeed an old woman, she was short, her skin was wrinkly and her hair was gray and short. She did not smell powerful, yet I had the feeling that I should not underestimate her.

"Genkai, this is Unaiga." Kurama said.

"I can speak for myself-" I began.

"I know, and you are very good at that. I will just present the matter to Genkai and Koenma and I will come get you when the time comes to tell the story." He said.

"…Very well." I said.

Kurama pat me on the shoulder again, and he went inside of the dojo, leaving me with Touya, and the man cloaked in black. I glared at the both of them and sat on the porch.

"Those are odd clothes." Touya said.

"Observant, aren't we?" I tapped my index finger repeatedly on the wood.

The man cloaked in black grunted and disappeared as quickly as he arrived. I looked at Touya wearily, my eyes not leaving his body.

"Kurama said that you are a friend, so I will not attack you again." He said his voice devoid of emotion. "The others will know who you are by the time Koenma calls you, so they will not make my assumption."

I only nodded and grew annoyed at him surveying my clothes with ill-concealed disgust.

"You are a Shinobi?" I asked.

"Yes." The ground under Touya's feet began to freeze the grass below, and it continued to circulate around him until the ice sheet reached my uncovered toes.

I pulled my knees to my chin and blushed slightly once I remembered that I had to be careful with how I sat down.

"What was that for?" I frowned at him.

"That was a demonstration of my power. And you, my dear, need to be careful of how you move with those clothes on." He smirked at me, causing me to furrow my brows more and growl.

"It's not my fault that these are the only clothes I have." I put my feet back on the grass once the ice sheet receded.

"That is odd." He approached me and looked straight into my eyes. "The only clothes like that would be wrapped around a whore in a brothel."

I was ready to slap him, but I stopped. Touya was agile and had excellent reflexes, so he would catch me in midair and probably show me a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat, me being the training dummy. I could only growl at him more and cross my arms, childish, I know.

"Well, that was the first correct assumption you have made about me since I arrived." My voice was deathly quiet.

At first, Touya looked mildly perplexed and that expression soon faded to his normal, expressionless face. He did not back away from me, he was still close and I was growing more infuriated with him as the seconds passed.

"Forgive me." He sighed.

He walked away from me again, and stood in the same spot as he was before. I gently untied the fastener of the sheathed sword from my sash and rested the blade beside me. I did not dare to look at the sword as it lay beside me. Even though my first kill was in self defense, I was still sickened by it. I closed my eyes and the memory of Genshi's reaction to when I stabbed him replayed in my mind over and over. Even though I hated that bomb-maker ever since he arrived at the brothel, he certainly did not deserve to die.

"_But you're the one who did it."_ I told myself in my mind. _"You're the one who drove that sword into his heart. __**You really wanted to do it**__."_

I opened my eyes again and shuddered. I had the urge to kick the dreadful blade away from me, but Touya would notice and think that I was going crazy. I noticed that he was looking at me as if I had a disease. The dojo door slid open and a brown-haired young man with some sort of instrument in his mouth stood there.

"Hello there, Unaiga. I am Koenma. Come in, please." His voice was calm, like Kurama's.

I stood up quickly and followed Koenma inside the dojo, looking over my shoulder at Touya briefly. He ushered me in a large room, where we were surrounded by pillars and there was a large statue in an enclave on one of the walls. He kneeled on a cushion and I did the same. He gently pushed a plate of food towards me.

"Here, you must be starving." He seemed to smile slightly.

I sniffed the food. While I was hungry, I was reluctant to eat. I reached for it, and then stopped. I did not even know half of the items on the plate. It smelled delicious, though.

"It's beef in curry. Don't worry, please eat it."

I bent down and bit some of the beef. It was some of the most delicious food I ever had, and I continued to savor the taste as I continued to chew and swallow. Once I was done, I knelt up, not really caring that some of the curry was running down my lip. I quickly licked the escaping food up and looked at Koenma.

"That was…nice. Thank you, Lord Koenma." I said.

"That was rather quick…" He gathered the plate and put it beside him. "Now, Unaiga, I want you to tell me what happened. Begin from wherever you like, but I mainly want to hear how you escaped the brothel and everything about the Old City."

I sighed, and began to tell my story. The plan I concocted with Mei, our escape, her death. It was shaky at first, but I got used to it and my voice became clearer, more eloquent. The ability to speak became more natural to me, and before I knew it, I got to the part when Kurama and I arrived in the Nigenkai.

"My thanks, Unaiga. Well, Genkai has agreed to let you stay here, and your training begins tomorrow." Koenma explained.

I smiled and bowed slightly.

"Thank you both." I was overjoyed, and my heart was racing with excitement.

"But of course." Koenma said. "Touya will show you to your room, and do what you wish. I would suggest a change of clothes, however."

"Stupid dress." I muttered before getting up.

I began to walk towards the door, which slid open. Touya stood there, looking at me with those cold eyes.

My room was small and simply furnished, but it was absolutely wonderful. Even the most luxurious rooms of my old home did not have the openness of this one. There was a small futon on the floor, complete with a desk, a dresser and a door that led to the inner garden.

"The washrooms are at the end of the hallway." Touya left me alone in the room, sliding the door behind him.

I immediately got out of my dress and pulled open one of the dresser drawers, reaching for a white robe. I knew that I smelled awful and that I would need a bath. I wrapped the fabric around me and left, walking towards the bathrooms. I walked through the door and was surprised by the sudden dim lighting and the slight dampness that the floor had. It was like the cave to the Old City but more pleasant. I saw that there was a pool in the corner, so I allowed the cotton to slide off and I slipped into the water. I floated in the water, clearing my mind and closing my eyes. The events that happened in the past few days whirled through my memory like a hard wind before a thunderstorm. I saw Genshi's face again, groaned and went under the water. I could feel all the grime coming off, and I was beginning to feel rejuvenated as I stayed. I felt as though the water was flowing, so I opened my eyes to see a strange machine. I put a hand in front of the small slot and felt some sort of force coming out. I pulled away and came up for air.

"Well…that's surprising." I heard someone say.

I froze and looked over my shoulder and saw a teenaged boy short black hair with brown eyes and the other had bright orange hair styled oddly with small gray eyes. They were both wearing nothing but the same robes I had on earlier. I sunk into the water again, until my nostrils barely touched the surface. The boy with the gray eyes approached me, but did not get too close for me to bristle again.

"You must be Unaiga." His voice was scratchy, but friendly. "My name is Kazuma Kuwabara."

I sniffed him from afar and blew some bubbles from my mouth.

"You are human…" I observed.

"And I'm Yuusuke Urameshi." I recognized his voice as the one who spoke when I emerged from the water. "Strange that Kuwabara and I meet you in the men's washroom."

"T-there are two?" I remembered that Touya had used a plural to point it out, but did not tell me which. "That…that _ass_…"

I sunk even more into the water, crossing my arms and legs.

"Er…don't drown." Kuwabara said, grabbing my robe from the floor and handing it to me.

I grabbed the thing and gave the two boys a look, and they all turned around so that I could walk out of the water and quickly put my robe back on. I walked away, almost slipping and stood at the door.

"Thanks…" I muttered, quickly sliding the door open and then leaving.

I was soon face-to-face with Kurama, who let out a bemused chuckle.

"Well, I see Touya failed to tell you which one was which." He indicated the door to the right.

I ran my hand through my wet hair. At least I got cleaned.

"I was not expecting to meet the others so suddenly." I said.

Kurama nodded.

"There are others as well, all demons."

"That human is strange." I broke out. "He's so…nice."

"Well, that's how Kuwabara is-" He began.

"The human is nothing more than an oaf and a fool." The man with a black cloak was sitting on one of the windows, looking comfortable in such a strange position.

"Now, now, Hiei." Kurama said.

I stared blankly at Hiei, who continued to look out the window from his place.

"…That's Hiei?" I asked, pointing. "One of the most feared outlaws is-"

A glare from him silenced me, and I held my head. I was about to say "small", but decided against it. I looked back at the redhead and sighed.

"You should get dressed." He said. "And take care not to drip water on the floor too much."

"See you later." I made my way to my room quickly.

Once I was in my room again, I opened the dressers. I saw some undergarments, which I put on. I was surprised at how comfortable they were, they were not lacy or had some sort of wire, or shiny for that matter. I slipped on some pants that stopped above the mid-section of my thighs and a black top that had two straps going over my shoulder. I brushed my fingers against my hair, which had stopped at the end of my neck. It was getting too long, but a pair of shears on the desk caught my eye. I picked them up and without looking at a reflection, I cut until my hair reached my chin. It was challenging cutting my hair from the back, but I managed. I lied down on the futon and closed my eyes, and even though I was not tired, I was lulled to sleep.

"You could sleep more quietly."

I awoke from my sleep once I heard the familiar voice, and I looked up from the futon. Touya was standing there, looking disgruntled.

"What's it to you?" I was tired, and still annoyed with him.

Touya should keep his distance.

"For one, you're groaning in your sleep. Second, you left the door wide open." He explained coldly.

I shuddered. I wonder what kind of dream I had, but the feelings of foreboding that I currently harbored told me that the dream was not so nice.

"Fine…just close the damn door, then." I curled up into a little ball.

"Very well, if you wish to skip a meal, then sleep." Touya was about to close the door, but I was already on my feet to stop him.

"What are we having?" I asked.

"Curry." He said.

I was hungry, and the curry that Koenma had given me was quite good. I followed him to the dining room, and there were quite a few people there. I saw many new faces. The only familiar ones were of Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei.

"Well, nice to see that someone's rested!" Yuusuke said once he saw me.

He approached and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Guys…hey, Jin, stop eating! This is our newest teammate, Unaiga." He said.

A very tall man with blue hair in a Mohawk stood up, and a little boy with brown hair followed.

"Well, I'm Chu. Pleased ta meet you." He had a strange accent that I had never heard before, and I could see a large bottle of liquor in his hand.

"I'm Rinku." The little boy said.

I began to get more interested in beginning my training tomorrow, mostly to see what kind of abilities the little boy had. A man with teased blonde hair rose elegantly from his sitting place.

"I am Suzuka." He motioned with his hands and his voice was quite flamboyant.

A blue-haired man with a rather ridiculous hairstyle was already standing, but he looked at me with a cool expression.

"Shisiwakamaru." He looked back at his food and continued to eat.

A man with short, red hair and blue eyes waved from his seat.

"Hello there Unaiga, my name is Jin!" He had another accent, except his was much more fast-paced than Chu's.

Touya had already taken a place beside Jin, and I took a seat next to Kurama.

"I hope you enjoyed your first day." He said. "I look forward to training with you tomorrow."

"I guess I did." I yawned served myself some curry.

I bent down and began to eat, enjoying the warm taste, my nose touching the porcelain plate slightly.

"Hey guys, lookit little Unaiga over there!" Chu exclaimed, followed by a belly laugh.

I looked up, some of the curry running down my mouth. There was too much for me to lick up.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The way you eat!" Rinku laughed. "You're supposed to use chopsticks, you know."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the wooden utensils that were in front of the plate. I merely rolled my eyes and kept on eating, as I ate like this in front of Koenma and he did not seem to mind. I grabbed a thin sheet of paper beside me and wiped the stuff off my face, and the others except for Hiei, Touya and Shishiwakamaru burst in loud laughter. As they all pitched in and showed me how to hold the chopsticks, I decided that this was going to be an interesting stay.


	4. Chapter 4: The Incredible Training Day

Woo, I am writing so much now. I'm finally done with summer classes so I should be able to do more chapters and art, but sometimes I may need a break with this, so yeah. Anyway, our dear narrator begins her training today. And she gets...well, I do not wish to spoil it for all of you.

Once again, happy reading, and I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my original characters.

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><p>Chapter Four: "The Incredible Training Day"<p>

I tripped over a tree root and fell flat on my stomach, but I got up again to run at full speed. I never thought I would be running like this again, yet there I was, struggling to catch up with the others. Hiei had disappeared from the start, and Kurama and Touya were at a close second. The others were so far up ahead, but Kuwabara and Yuusuke were good company.

"You alright there?" Yuusuke asked.

"Yeah. I've endured worse." I said

Yuusuke grinned wildly as a gust of wind went his way. He seemed to dodge it and run faster.

"Hey, wait there Jin!" He called.

I struggled to stay alongside Kuwabara as we continued our run.

"Where the hell are we going?" I asked.

"There's another training area in the mountains. We're goin' there." He said.

I looked at him, and what I saw surprised me.

"You…you haven't even broken a sweat?" I was looking as if I had fallen in a lake with my clothes still on.

"You get used to running!" He seemed to be embarrassed.

I hissed slightly, and looked at the path ahead. We must have been running for a few hours, and then I saw the end of the forest. I saw that the others had already stopped and were waiting on us. Genkai looked at Kuwabara, slightly perturbed.

"You're late, Kazuma." She said.

I looked over my shoulder at him. He was faster than me, yet he wanted to keep me company. I nodded at him and looked back up at the mountain. I saw that there were man-made ledges on the mountainside, but they were so far apart with no connection between them. My lip twitched. How the hell was I supposed to climb that thing? Hiei jumped from where he was onto the second ledge, and continued on his way up. I crossed my arms and observed him, sniffing slightly to see if he had used any of his demon powers to assist him. My stomach dropped slightly once I realized that he had not. Kurama had jumped onto the first platform, and motioned for me to approach.

"Are you crazy, Kurama?" I asked.

"You did not seem to have too much trouble with jumping over some of the walls in the Old City." He remarked.

I glared at him slightly, but sighed and admitted silently that he was right. I ran towards him and jumped with as much power from my feet and legs as I could muster. I was surprised at how high I jumped, but it was not enough. Kurama had grabbed me by the wrist, though, and we worked together with pulling me up. I looked down and smiled slightly. Some of my teammates were giving me encouraging smiles. Genkai remained silent, though, but nodded as if Kurama was allowed to help me, for now. My friend had already leapt to the next platform and I had followed, and we continued this until we reached near the top. He was already on the rocky surface, lying on his stomach and extending his arm. I jumped again, with more power than the last few, and managed to grab onto the mountain ledge by myself. I raked my feet against the rock and pulled myself up. I was surprised to see that Koenma was at the entrance to inside the mountain; I guess he wanted to see how acquainted I was with combat. The others had no trouble with coming up at all, and soon our entire team was joined.

"Those ledges always get me…" Kuwabara said.

"You'll git used to 'em." Chu said. "Don't tell me you're already outta energy, Kuwabara."

"Far from it!" The human exclaimed enthusiastically.

I noticed that Suzuka's eyes widened, as if he had realized something important.

"Who will spar with Unaiga first?" He asked, crossing his arms and looking at me. "I guess that's our opening fight before we all join in."

"Does it really matter?" I asked.

Rinku had raised his hand.

"I will." He said.

"You're that eager to go up against me?" I raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Well, I wanna see what you can do." Rinku shrugged, and then he smirked. "You're not scared, are you?"

"Wait, no!" I snarled. "You think I'm afraid of going up against a little boy?"

"Oh, ouch." Rinku raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Then let's fight then."

I poised myself on what I thought was a fighting stance.

"Then come at me…" I said.

"Save it for the inside you two." Genkai scolded.

I looked at Rinku, who smiled back at me with a wide grin. This was going to get interesting.

We all made our way into the mountain through the doors. It was so dark, but a lantern on the ceiling automatically lit up once Yuusuke walked further inside. It was a long walk, and I saw that there was a lot of water on the floor nearby.

"So, do we fight in the water or what?" I asked.

"Don't be ridiculous." Shishiwakamaru said. "You swim in it. See the tunnel near the bottom?"

"I can't see much of anything, really." I muttered, giving him a look.

I slowly walked into the water, jumping at how cold it was. I was splashed once Yuusuke had dived headfirst into the water.

"Goddammit Urameshi!" I screamed, my voice echoing through the passage. "What the fuck was that for?"

I saw his head emerge from the water.

"Er…sorry. Water kinda does that." He dived after he spoke.

I decided to follow him and I went under the water. I was decent enough at diving into pools, but I could see nothing when I went under. I felt someone grab my hand and lead me through the water. The diving was relatively quick, so I emerged from the water and rubbed my eyes.

"Thanks, Kurama…" I said.

"Hm. I do not recall that I look like him." I opened my eyes quickly to see that it was Touya, who still had his hand on my arm.

I stared at him for a moment.

"Well, sorry." I muttered before getting out.

He followed me and leaned against one of the six red stone pillars that were surrounding us. I did find the area to be quite lovely. There was a hole in the ceiling, letting in the natural light, and there was the occasional bird that flew in and then left. There were also lanterns on the rocky ceiling above, but they were not lit. The light hit a large area where the floor was made of sand and dirt. Yuusuke was already sitting on the floor, and I heard the footsteps of the others who were emerging from the water. Koenma suddenly appeared from the shadows, making me jump.

"Lord Koenma! You did not swim?" I asked.

"Of course not. I'm not athletic at all." He said.

Yuusuke clapped the deity on the shoulder and grinned devilishly.

"Didn't stop me from pushing you in that one time." He said.

"I still have not forgotten about that, you know." Koenma said dryly. "You'd best watch your back."

"Unaiga, Rinku. Begin your sparring." I heard Genkai's scratchy voice call out.

"Already?" I asked.

"Quit your whining, slut-puppy, and fight." She said.

I did not look at Genkai, but I walked to the arena, where Rinku stood. He was barefoot, and I stood in my fighting stance. I looked at my other teammates from the corner of my eye. Their eyes were fixed on the both of us. Right when Genkai said "Begin!", Rinku had charged at me, and I threw myself onto the sand to dodge. Before I knew it, Rinku was sitting on my back.

"Wow, that was fast." He said.

I tried getting up, but the boy was so heavy.

"Dammit." I said.

"Come on…you're so weak, Unaiga." He taunted.

I growled slightly and grabbed Rinku by the sleeve and threw him off. He landed on the sand a few times before rolling on the ground and stopping. I jumped and pounced on top of him. To my surprise, he smiled.

"There. You needed a bite in the ass." He whispered.

I sighed and got up, helping him as I did so. Rinku smiled and stretched, rubbing the arm that he landed on.

"You weren't fighting at full power, were you?" I asked.

"Oh, no. If I did, you'd prolly be dead." He smiled again.

I shuddered slightly, and I walked off of the sandy arena.

"Where do you think you're going?" Touya asked, walking onto the arena. "You stay here until the others are done."

I saw that I was already surrounded by my teammates. They were in pairs, facing one another. It was Yuusuke against Kurama, Kuwabara against Hiei, Chu against Rinku, Suzuka against Shishiwakamaru and Jin was facing down Genkai.

"Good luck." Jin said, looking at me. "Hey Lord Koenma, want in on this?"

"Er…I'll just pass and watch you all." Koenma responded; his hands up in surrender.

Touya had already punched me to the ground for the fifteenth time, hitting me square in the jaw this time. I actually fell onto the sand this time, rubbing it slightly.

"You have such a long way to go." He said, the sword of ice encircling his arm.

He pointed it at my throat and it touched it slightly.

"I hold your life in my hands."

There was another explosion of rage inside of my heart at his words, and I shoved the sword away from my throat and stood up. I tried to kick him, but he grabbed my leg and let me drop from the air. I whirred around while in the air and managed to deliver a kick to his face.

"Never say that again." I said, glaring at him after I fell onto the sand. "You're begging for death."

Touya raised an eyebrow and helped me stand up.

"You'll have a long way to go before those threats will have substance." He said.

I was confused by him. He was so cold, and I could feel that he wanted to work against me. Yet he was being helpful –right now, anyway- , and there was no hint of hate in his voice.

"That's enough, everyone. Travel back to the dojo, now." Genkai said, already making her way to the water.

"Are we finished?" I asked, looking at Touya.

"Yes, until tomorrow." He said.

Koenma approached me, and I bowed slightly.

"You did well for your first day. Your improvement will be steady if you continue to work at this pace." He said. "Wait for a moment, until the others clear out."

Kurama, who was waiting for me, apparently heard Koenma. Before leaving with the others, he smiled and waved at me. Once it was completely quiet, we both sat down on the stony part of the floor.

"Unaiga, one of the things I want you to do is to stop sleeping during the day. I don't care how tired you get, but you need to get yourself adjusted here immediately." He commanded.

I nodded, rather surprised that he made me stay behind to tell me that.

"Erm, alright. Is there anything else?" I asked.

Koenma seemed to shift uncomfortably.

"Have you ever wondered why your Mistress sent so many of her servants to look for you; and why she sent one of her best men and risked discovery in Gandara?" He asked.

I sighed heavily and looked at the ground. I wanted to snap at Koenma and tell him to never mention that again, but he seemed genuinely worried. As did Kurama that day that he asked me in the Old City.

"Well, I was one of her best…" I shuddered to say the word. "I was there for so long that I was one of the more expensive girls."

Koenma nodded and allowed that bit of information to sink in.

"You will be safe here." He said, once he noticed the worried expression on my face. "Just continue your training."

I nodded and we both stood up. He proffered his hand and I grabbed it, and before I knew it, we were in the dojo inner gardens.

"I can sympathize with your hatred of cold water." He chuckled. "The others should be here within the hour."

I was surprised to see Jin when he landed in front of me a few minutes later, stretching and cracking his knuckles.

"Oh, hullo there, Unaiga. You did a pretty good job in training today." He talked fast, but I could at least understand him.

"So everyone says." I looked into his deep blue eyes.

He chuckled.

"Touya was shocked that you got him in the face."

I stared at him for a moment.

"…Touya was actually surprised by something?" I said.

"Well, yeah. Just because he's an Ice Shinobi doesn't mean he's that emotionless." Jin explained. "Now if you want to see someone who is really emotionless, lookit Hiei."

I laughed and agreed silently. I did not know Hiei that well, but I guess I could assume that it was true from the stories that I heard about him and from my first impressions.

"Oh yeah," Jin's voice was softer now. "…Touya doesn't hate yeh. He's just like that to errybody."

I stiffened in surprise that Jin knew what I was thinking.

"How did you know?"

Jin shrugged.

"You get really tense around him and your hair seems to bristle." He thoughtfully stroked his chin. "The guy may be colder than a mornin' in the winter but that's how he pushes us to train harder."

"Rinku does that too. He said that I need a bite in the ass all the time." I remembered what the little boy said.

"We all help each other that way. Believe it or not Yuusuke is the one that needs it the most."

I began to laugh again and held my stomach.

"Well, I guess that I should think up some phrases for you all, but it shouldn't be too hard."

We both grinned at each other and went into the dojo to eat before the others arrived. My muscles were sore and I was fucking hungry.


	5. Chapter 5: Tanuki Transformation

Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay, but my summer finals were finished last week so I have more time to focus on this fanfic. I also apologize that this chapter is slightly shorter than the others, but judging by what Koenma says at the end, the next chapter should be pretty darn long. Hints of the main plot will be given in the next chapter.

I did tons of reading up on Tanuki powers in Japanese mythology, and it piques my interest, very much so. I could not find the actual transformation chant, so I created one myself.

I am looking forward to the later days in July. Otakon is upon us! Yay!

Anyways, happy reading, you all, and I do not own YuYu Hakusho. I only own my original characters.

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><p>Chapter Five: "Tanuki Transformation"<p>

I clutched the rod of bamboo in my hands as my toes curled around the grass. I was tense, looking at the splintered tree before me. I was able to make a slight scarring on the bark from all the hits that I forced upon it. I lunged at the tree again, hitting it with all the strength I could muster. The bamboo broke in half, and I landed on my feet without tripping.

"There we go…" I told myself, clutching the broken rod even harder.

I froze when I heard something in the distance, and I felt something was close; observing me. I growled slightly and looked around. This was the fifth time this week that I felt like my secret was being intruded upon. However, I continued; I dropped the broken stick and began to practice punching and kicking the tree. I had some time before the others awoke.

The foliage on was dense, but it was better that way so that my secret would be kept. I felt like whatever was observing me was now following me. I finally stopped and stood threateningly, looking at the many trees above.

"Stop playing games and come out, I know you're here!"

There was no response, but I could still feel as though whatever it was had not left.

"Come out! Or I'll tear out your throat!"

Nothing happened. I sighed and began to run towards the edge of the forest. It was still following me, and it was getting closer and closer to revealing itself. Once the dojo was in sight, whatever was following me had taken off. I sighed and stared up at the rising sun, creeping back into the dojo.

I had not come up for air yet, I continued to sit on the pool floor in my naked form, my knees touching my chin and my arms enveloping my legs. I was surprised that I could hold my breath for a long time, and stay anchored in one spot. The feeling of the jet stream –as Yuusuke called it- was nice against my head, even though it blew my hair everywhere as I sat in front of it. I felt something moving in the water, so I turned around to see another girl sitting on the pool floor, covering herself. I looked at her, my eyes narrowed in suspicion. Her hair was sea green, and her eyes were a shade of red. She emerged to speak, and I followed.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

She did not seem taken aback by the tone in my voice. The girl only smiled and spoke in her gentle voice.

"I am Yukina. You must be Unaiga."

"…Are you training here as well?" I was surprised that I had not met her after all this time, even though most of my free time was composed of me sitting in my room.

"No. I merely stay here, since I have nowhere to go." Her voice was gentle, and sweet.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Then why have I not met you before? I've been here for many days." I was getting even more confused by this girl.

"I was visiting Botan in the Spirit World." Yukina said simply.

I did not know who Botan was, but I did not inquire. I hid my lips under the water and looked at the rippling pools.

"Kazuma has told me that your training has been going well." She said.

"Did he now? I think he's being overly faithful in my abilities." I muttered, now resting my chin on the surface.

She only smiled.

"I do not think he is." She observed me, cocking her head to the side slightly.

It was rather surprising that I did not find myself getting annoyed by her questions. It was almost relaxing, in a strange way. She only nodded. I looked into her eyes, and they were such a familiar shade of red. I jumped slightly once I realized that they were an exact match to Hiei's. I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it once a bad feeling formed in my stomach.

"I guess I'll see you later." I quickly scrambled out of the water and put on the clothes that I brought with me.

I had already left before she had the chance to say anything, and shut the door behind me. I glared at Hiei, who was sitting on his windowsill. I stormed over to him and grabbed him by the arm. The look he gave me forced me to remove my hand from his arm.

"Why do you touch me, pray tell?" He asked.

"Why do you have the same eyes as her?" I indicated at the door, whispering furiously.

Hiei raised his eyebrow, looking more and more annoyed by the second.

"And this concerns you because?"

"Because I had the worst feeling at the pit of my stomach once I saw her eyes." I put my hands on my hips. "They're the same color as-"

I stopped talking once Hiei gave me a look.

"I'm sure that you can put two and two together. Now leave me be."

I knew that it was the end of the conversation after that, but I gave him a look before walking away.

"By the way, girl. Where have you been going for the past few mornings?"

I froze in my spot and looked at him. I narrowed my eyes and turned to face him.

"Are you the one that's been stalking me?" I was furious.

"I was only following. You were quite obvious." Hiei smirked. "Hn."

"You are such…" I did not finish my sentence, since I immediately stormed off.

I angrily slid open the door and closed it in the same manner. I liked the majority of the team, yet Hiei, Shishiwakamaru and Touya were some of the hardest to get along with. Even though there were only three, they constantly got on my case or on my nerves about certain things. Learning that Hiei was the one who had intruded on my secret for such a long time was the worst. I looked at the wall, while sitting on the futon, the shears in my hand. I held the chin length mess in my hair and began to cut again, my anger lessening with each snip. I had worked my way around my hair, and set the shears down. I felt less angry, and my hair probably suffered much for it, but I did not care. I continued to sit there, looking at the walls. Some time passed before I finally stood up walked out the door. I looked down the hallway to see that Hiei had left the windowsill, so I glided down and looked out the window. It was a lovely sight of the inner gardens and the image was very relaxing; an overwhelming sense of calmness had overtaken the residue feelings of anger that I harbored.

"What did you do to yourself?" I looked around to see that Shishiwakamaru was standing there. "Your hair…"

I raised an eyebrow and him and leaned against the wall.

"What of it? Not like yours is any better."

He looked slightly annoyed but approached me. He took out a small blade and forced me to sit down on the floor.

"You really must stop cutting your hair like that." He began to smooth out the rough edges with the steel.

"Why should I? Obsessing over that is unnecessary and vain." The anger was creeping back in.

"Obsessing is one thing. Looking like a rugged street rat is another." He scolded.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, but I kept silent. A feeling of familiarity began to sweep into my heart, replacing the anger. My muscles seemed to relax.

"…Unaiga. You are a Tanuki?" Shishiwakamaru asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"How'd you figure that out? I keep my ears and tail …-oh." I felt a brush of rough hair against my leg.

I felt a tickle around my ears as the blade accidentally touched one of the fuzzy hairs on the way down. I let out a little giggle, but then put my hand over my mouth.

"Why did you keep these hidden?" He continued to smooth out my hair.

"The stupid things are always in the way." I looked at my own tail with disdain.

He proceeded to comb some of my hair in front of my face and cut it over the forehead.

"There." He said. "You actually look decent."

Kurama and Touya looked very surprised when I passed them by, I sighed when I realized that I had forgotten to make my animal ears and tail disappear. I sighed and they did disappear, but that did not stop the fact that Kurama and Touya had seen my true form.

"So, you are a Tanuki." Touya crossed his arms. "Your magic should be quite an asset."

I felt my face get slightly warm, but I frowned and looked away.

"I never learned any." I was still a little surprised, that was the first directly non-offensive comment that he made.

"That's why I could not tell." Kurama said. "The stronger one's power is, the easier it is to smell what kind of demon they are."

"You never learned?" Touya raised an eyebrow.

I sighed and gave him a look.

"I was too busy learning other things."

Touya looked a little surprised and looked away. I thought I saw a slight tinge of pink appear on his cheeks, but it quickly disappeared.

"Well, you can learn." Kurama smiled slightly.

"From who? As far as I know, there are not any Tanuki grandmasters in the area." I was beginning to feel a twinge of nervousness, and wondered if I would have to go back to the Makai.

"From me, of course. I am a kitsune, after all."

"Ah." Relief swept in and I shuddered.

Kurama reached to the nape of his neck, seemed to pull something out, and handed a seed to me. The seed took the form of a leaf.

"A lotus leaf…" Touya muttered.

"Indeed." Kurama looked at me. "This is what you need to put on your head to transform. There is a chant you must learn, however."

"And what is this chant?" I took the leaf and looked at it, running my finger over the smooth, green surface.

"Remember that the chant will not be needed once you are more experienced in transforming. Say 'Hachisu no ha tenkan' and think of transforming into your animal form."

Touya looked genuinely interested and observed me as I put the leaf on my head. My heart was racing, and I thought of the animal forms of various Tanuki that I saw.

"Hachisu no ha tankan!" I saw smoke surrounding me, and when it cleared, Kurama and Touya were much taller than me.

I looked at my belly, which was now covered in grayish black fur. My feet and hands were now tiny, wiry paws. I saw that my wiry tail had reappeared; only that it was smaller. Kurama smiled, and the interested look in Touya's face had already diminished.

"Very good, now-" Kurama reached to grab another seed from his hair.

I felt myself getting picked up and I found myself slightly above Yuusuke's face.

"…Interesting little thing. Where the hell did you come from?" He shook me slightly.

"Er…Yuusuke-" Kurama began.

"Ssh." Yuusuke looked up at me and began moving me up and down in the air slightly.

"_Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa,_

_Kaze mo nai no ni,_

_Bura bura!"_

I glared at him and let out an enraged cry, and began to scratch at his face.

"Ow! You little!" Yuusuke dropped me, while Kurama gathered me and put the leaf on my head.

I said the chant in my head while imagining my real form, and the smoke appeared again. I was back to my normal height, and the first thing I did was kick Yuusuke softly while I was on the floor.

"Careful what you sing about." I snarled. "Because in case you have not noticed, I do not have any of your goddamn male anatomy!"

"Well, it's a well-known children's song." Kurama said, crossing his arms.

A cough from nearby distracted us from the little tussle. We were looking at Koenma, who had not been at the dojo for some time.

"Oh. Hello toddler-bitch." Yuusuke said, wiping some of the scratches from his face.

The deity did not look amused, and he spoke, an urgent air about him.

"Unaiga, I believe that it is time for your first mission."


	6. Chapter 6: Choyaku

Wahou! This is one of the longest chapters I have written for the story so far. It is fifteen pages on Microsoft word. I hope you all enjoy it.

If anyone can name the legendary Irish castle that I loosely based Choyaku on, then you are awesome. Include answers in the review, if you please.

Happy reading, my readers.

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><p>Chapter Six: "Choyaku"<p>

"You are sure?" I looked at Koenma, a surprised expression on my face. "You actually believe that I can do this?"

The deity nodded and sipped his tea before speaking.

"Of course I do. You have improved steadily since you began your training."

I crossed my arms and frowned. I knew that I had improved, but so had the others. They were leaving me behind, no matter how much power I gained.

"I just began learning magic-"

"I saw." He interrupted, taking another sip of his tea. "Now, while the site you need to travel to is around here, it is quite a journey."

"Is it beyond that damn forest?" Memories of me being lost in the brush flooded in.

"Yes. You will need a guide."

I gave him an annoyed look.

"Will I have to fight?" I knew that there was doubt in my abilities.

"There will always be fighting. Some of the beasts that have settled in the caverns have become very powerful." He remained expressionless, his eyes veiled.

"Then why do you need me?" I snapped. "Are you trying to rub it in that all of the others are better than me?"

Koenma started to massage his forehead as if I was giving him a headache.

"Unaiga, please calm down. I _want_ you to experience missions, but you are not powerful enough to be on your own." He hissed.

Seeing Koenma pissed off was not that scary to me, yet I was still surprised that the calm young man had become annoyed with me.

"You need to learn how to work with your teammates, Unaiga. Sometimes, you can be just as hard to work with as Yuusuke."

My lip twitched, but I did not respond. As much as it annoyed me, I had to admit that Koenma was right.

"Well, who is going with me?" I asked.

"A certain someone, who knows the area particularly well."

Koenma was _so_ helpful.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"So, find the caverns and retrieve the stone. What is it going to look like?"

"You will know when you stumble upon it." He seemed to smile.

I now knew why Yuusuke wanted to punch him in the face.

I got up, bowed, and then left the room. I saw that Touya was waiting for me down the hallway.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"I guess so." I sighed. "You are my guide?"

He looked at me, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"As far as I am concerned, you are merely tagging along to get used to missions."

I inhaled sharply and resisted the urge to lunge at him –thankfully, I did not-.

I followed him as he walked towards the door to the Inner Gardens. Once he began to run, I followed him, keeping close behind.

"How long will this journey be?" I had not broken a sweat, yet.

"Two days. Be sure to keep up." I knew that he was smirking.

_Bastard_.

The run was long, and we did have to stop for the few occasions that we needed water. It was a silent trek, I did not wish to talk to Touya and his feeling was mutual. Despite the times he helped me during training, we were still quite hostile. By the time we stopped for camp, the sun was setting.

The sky was the exact shade of red from that day that I escaped.

So many months ago.

We were sitting across from each other, separated by the small fire I had made.

"It's good that Kurama taught you how to transform. We'll need those powers." He said, not looking at me.

I nearly choked on my water with surprise –mostly that Touya had complimented me, but also in fear that I did not have any more lotus leaves-, and then checked my bag. I sighed with relief: there were still lotus leaves tucked away in the corner. Kurama had given them to me before Koenma ushered me into the room.

"Would he be able to teach me everything?" I asked.

"I would not know." Came the emotionless reply.

_'You're no help.'_ I thought to myself.

I leaned against the tree, sighing. It was going to be difficult to sleep tonight. I saw that Touya was already sleeping. His expression had not changed, yet there was a more peaceful air about him. Without thinking, I quietly crawled over to him and sat near him, on my knees. I observed him for a few minutes, before my eyes got heavier. I slowly lied down on the grass and fell asleep once the last of the embers burned out.

"You're talking in your sleep, again."

My eyes opened, and I saw that Touya was awake. I pushed myself up from the ground and sat on my knees.

"Sorry to wake you." I was feeling a bit drowsy.

I shook my head.

"What was I saying?"

"It was mostly incoherent babble." He said simply, rising from the ground.

I frowned as he smirked. I bet that he was amused when he woke up and saw me sleeping so close by.

"How close are we?" I wanted to change the subject.

I rose from my spot on the ground, and stretched.

"Not too far now." Touya began to run.

I growled and followed him.

"You're lucky that you improved, you know. If Koenma had given you a mission right from when you arrived, you would have been left behind."

"I know." I snarled.

Our run continued for quite some time, until Touya's arm shot out to stop me. I looked ahead to see that there was a circular clearing below the incline we were on. The clearing was strangely quiet, the birds had stopped chirping and the wind did not seem to blow through the grassy ground. An uneasy feeling formed within my stomach, but I stood still and alert. We both began to slowly walk down the incline, and as we passed the trees, I noticed that there was a cave nearby, to the right. The feeling became worse, and I put my hand on my stomach. We stopped again, halfway down.

"Why are we stopping?" I raised an eyebrow.

"We need to regain energy." Touya sat on a nearby stone. "Don't go onto the clearing."

Once he said that, the feeling became worse.

"Why am I so…" I whimpered.

He only looked at me.

"Do you know what happened here, so many years ago?"

"Koenma failed to tell me that." I muttered, sitting on another stone.

"Well, allow me to enlighten you." Touya crossed his arms. "There used to be a stronghold there, connected to the cave. It was called Choyaku."

"Choyaku was owned by a wealthy human family. They were also quite powerful. Of course, with their riches and power, many members became greedy. The family became divided because there was confusion about which son would be the new heir: the son of the head and his wife, or his other son that he had fathered with her sister. There was much tension between the sides, and it only grew over the years. It erupted one night, when his wife's son had beheaded his half-brother during a holy ceremony. The other members of the family began to fight, until they all killed each other. All of this anger bound their spirits to the place. Eventually, after each body was buried and the blood was cleaned, the stronghold passed into the ownership of a family from a distant land. For many generations, the family lived there, undisturbed by the spirits. However, the wife that one of the lords loved to dabble in black magic. She had released all the spirits to wreak havoc onto the living during one of her rituals, and then…He appeared."

The nervous feeling in my stomach became even stronger.

"W-who is 'He'?"

"Whatever 'He' is, it was an embodiment of every person that was slaughtered that night. According to the woman who had accidentally summoned him, he takes many forms, but enjoys taking the form of a corpse the size of a sheep. He has rotting eyes and stinks of decaying corpses. He is one of the most powerful spirits here."

I shivered and looked at my feet.

"Why do we need the stone?" I asked. "What could so be good about it?"

Touya sighed and got up.

"We will find out."

I growled a little, but followed him. As we both went over the last step between the incline and the clearing, a cold feeling overwhelmed me. I began to shiver, and looked on in shame as Touya stood absolutely still. I heard a distant wail, and soon there were more. The wails were here and yet not here. They were sad and filled with despair.

"Those must be the spirits." I muttered. "Are they flocking to us because we are youkai?"

Touya nodded. I began to see flashes of grey around, and noticed that they took on human shapes. The wails got louder and louder, and soon I was forced into a halt. There were pale hands that came from nowhere that grabbed me by the arms, ankles, neck and face. I did not scream, but I my eyes were wide and my heart began to race. I saw that Touya was walking towards me, his hand engulfed by a light blue aura. The wails stopped, replaced by pained screams. The hands let go of me and disappeared.

"Thank you." I said.

"Come on. Once we enter the cave, you will need to transform." Touya commanded.

"Why, there are little holes I need to crawl into?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Exactly." He was smirking.

_Fuck this cave._

I said my chant with the lotus leaf on my head, and soon, I was the little raccoon dog. I heard the wails echo through the stony walls, but they did not scare me. I stood upright grudgingly followed Touya. We passed by many small holes in the walls that were dark, but I had not been sent to investigate any of them, yet. The wails kept coming and going, and we continued to see grey, see through humans come and go. Ghostly hands appeared from nowhere to grab me, but they were easily evaded. Touya had stopped in front of one of the holes, and knelt down.

"Go through there, and pull the lever at the end."

I quickly went through the hole, blowing cobwebs away from my nose. It was totally dark on the other side, but I reached the end rather quickly and felt around for a lever. I pulled it gently with my paws and I heard a strange noise from the outside. Soon, the room was illuminated by a dark purple light, and I stood frozen in my place. The straight path that I walked along was clear, but piled on both sides were bodies. Well, what was left, which was bone. I let out a small hiss and ran along the path and through the hole. Touya was there, and he was surprised when I leapt onto his chest. I tried to communicate with him, but all that came out were whimpers and mews. I was sort of relieved when Touya indicated that he understood.

"This is where many of the family members were buried." He seemed a little annoyed as he grabbed me and took me off. "At least the lights are on."

I was too panicked to realize that the purple light had spread to the ceiling of the cave. The lights themselves were far apart, leaving some patches of darkness on the ground.

"How is it that you do not fear the ghosts, and yet the bodies send you into a scare?" He stood up.

I gave him a look and my fur bristled. I did not desire to tell him of one of the stories I had to keep with me from my days in the brothel.

We continued our journey through the cave. Since the lights had turned on, the spirits had been leaving us alone. However, I could feel that they were following us from a very safe distance. It was getting colder as we walked on, and I noticed that the purple lights were getting dimmer and dimmer. Soon, we had to turn, and there was a light red glowing from the corner.

"Transform back, Unaiga." Touya's voice was suddenly firmer.

I did as he asked, and covered my cold arms.

"…What is that glow?" I asked.

He did not answer, but he grabbed me by the forearm.

"This is more dangerous than Koenma thought." He muttered.

"Then let's go back and get help." I was a little surprised by the sudden contact.

Touya looked at me blankly.

"We cannot go back now. We're too far in."

"It's better than us being killed!" I was getting infuriated.

"I mean that we cannot leave this place. We will not be able to. The spirits have locked us in." He explained.

My heart sunk. _He could have told me this sooner._

"So it's just you and me against…Him?"

"Clearly." I was surprised to see that Touya was not panicking.

_Touya, would it be a stretch for you to summon your Ice Sword and stab me right now?_

I also realized why Koenma wanted me to get along better with my teammates. We would never know when the unexpected may turn up, be it a surprise or when someone was "withholding" information.

"Are you planning to run away?" He asked.

"No! I'll never run away." I said.

For a moment, Touya's eyes widened in surprise. He looked away, and then the Ice Sword covered his arm. I followed him into the red glow.

There was an unnerving sound once the glow began to get clearer, and we saw a gigantic building before us.

"This cannot be real…" I surveyed the impressive, yet ominous site before us.

"You are correct. It's not. It's His power." Touya walked up to the thing and put his hand on the door. "Yet we can touch it. Interesting."

I touched it as well. The doors were wooden, yet it was so cold.

Touya appeared to see something on the ground, and picked it up. Whatever it was, he threw it at me; I caught it and saw that it was a sword. My stomach dropped as I remembered Genshi, but I put him out of my mind and unsheathed the blade. Unlike the one from the Old City, this one had not rusted. The hilt was much longer, with a single edge.

"What is this?" I asked. "I have never seen anything like it."

"It's a nagamaki." Touya said. "Use it, for now."

I tied the sheath to my belt, and proceeded to put my hands on the sliding door.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"We do not have much of a choice." He said.

I slid open the door, which made the sound of breaking glass and disappeared. We both walked inside, to see a large room. It was decorated beautifully, but as we moved on, the room began to become achromatic. The furniture and the walls began to fade and become stained with blood, which was dripping onto the floor. Some of it dripped on me, but I paid it no mind. We began to see the spirits manifesting and we felt their wide eyes burning into us. I gripped the sword harder, but Touya was his usual collected self.

"Will they hurt us?" I asked.

"No." He said. "But that might."

I froze when I saw two, perfectly circular red eyes looking at us from a small patch of darkness. It's voice, which was scratchy and nasal, rang through the room.

"Why are two youkai like you here?" Its head cocked to the right.

Whatever it was, it emerged from the shadows. It was a humanoid, yet it was pale, and its jaw had been torn out, allowing a dark yellow tongue to sweep across the bloody floor. The red eyes seemed to move and writhe from the inside.

"We are here for the stone." Touya was the one to speak.

Its tongue moved as it laughed weakly.

_Gross._

"Good luck trying to get it from…" It trailed off into incoherent whispers and stood up.

It lunged at me, but I quickly moved to the side and grabbed it by the slimy hair. I knelt down, so that the creature's face was inches from the ground.

"Tell us about Him." I slammed its face into the ground. "Tell us about the stone."

I slammed it even harder into the ground, and I heard the disgusting sound of one of the eyeballs exploding. Maggots fell from the cavity, but it did not shriek in pain.

"He is very powerful…" It trailed off again. "The stone…ah, I've forgotten…"

I could sort of tell that it was telling the truth. I let its hair go and cleaned the slime from my hands on my clothes.

"Where is he, then?" Touya asked.

"He is in the room where the ceremony took place." It curled up into a little ball. "Down…"

I sighed and saw that there was a set of stairs nearby, one leading up, and one leading down.

"Killing Him will release all of the spirits. We would be able to leave." He said.

"It's a shame that it did not know where the stone was…" I looked upon the thing with pity. "What is he?"

"He is one of the sons."

I shuddered.

"Well, let's get this over with." I began to walk towards the stairs.

Touya followed me and I carefully descended the black and white steps. The wood was cold on my bare feet, and it was freezing as we descended the steps. The smell of decay was worse downstairs, as well. There was one candle that gave off a green light on a nearby table, which had a decaying head on a plate. The jaw was removed, allowing the tongue to loll off of the plate, and the eyes were widened in surprise. There were also many bodies on the floor, each mutilated so badly that it was hard to believe that they were once humans. I jumped slightly when we heard the sound of something falling onto the ground nearby.

"Tch…" I muttered. "Show yourself."

Touya was looking around the room with icy blue eyes. He seemed to see something but it had disappeared before he could make it out. I felt something touch my shoulder, and I wheeled around, clutching the sword.

It was indeed the size of a sheep, but it was not covered in wool. Its sinews were visible, pumping black blood to a beating heart. Its nose was upturned, like a pig's snout. Its eyes were rotting, but it still had pupils, which looked at me with madness. Its teeth were all filed and sharp. I swung my sword at it, but it stopped just before I could behead it. Touya blew some icy shards from his hand, but the shards dropped onto the floor.

"Why are you here?" His voice was deep, and seemed to gurgle.

"We desire to free the spirits and get the stone." Touya said.

It smiled madly, every muscle was visible.

"I keep them here for eternal punishment…they deserve to be here. As for the stone…" It looked at me. "You both will have to kill me."

Touya frowned, and sighed. I shuddered as His gaze did not leave me.

"We accept your offer, then." I said.

He disappeared into the shadows, and Touya stood to my back. I held the sword, ready to strike. I heard His strained laughing in the distance.

"Normally I would summon the spirits of the damned to kill you both…that is what I do to all seekers of the stone!" His voice rang through the room. "But you two are worthy of fighting me."

"I dunno if that's good or bad, Touya." I muttered.

"It's a good thing. We won't have to waste our energy on any underlings." He said.

We heard footsteps all around us, and the sound of His gurgling.

Suddenly, I was on my back and I saw that He was on top of me, his eyes and mouth wide in a smile. I cried out in pain when He clawed my thigh, but I waved my sword, cutting Him across the cheek. He growled and jumped off of me. I did not care that I was bleeding; I ran up to him and tried to cut him across the torso, but he skillfully evaded me. Touya leapt from his place and sliced his calf. He growled and the claws swept across Touya's chest, and the Ice Master was sent flying into one of the walls.

"Don't…" I dropped my blade.

I grabbed Him by the shoulders, digging my nails into the muscle.

"You," I raised Him into the air. "Touch Touya!"

I threw Him into a splintered and broken beam, which He grazed the surface on and hit the wall with a sickening crack. I quickly grabbed my blade and ran towards the body to finish the job, but he was gone.

"Touya!" I called.

"I'm fine." My companion was bleeding, but he did not pay his wounds any mind.

I saw that some particles of dust on the floor began to gather together, and began to form a body.

"The hell-" My eyes narrowed as the dust being walked towards me.

It looked exactly like…

"Genshi?" I was frozen in my place.

**"Little whore."** The dust groaned. **"I'll always remember that murderous glint in your eyes."**

"You were going to kill Kurama and me." I said.

**"But you enjoyed it…you enjoyed it as the blood of my heart sprayed your face. You enjoyed cutting into me. You enjoyed getting your revenge for touching you for so many nights."**

"Enough!" Touya snarled.

He threw an ice shard at the dust, which promptly exploded and flooded on the floor.

"This is His way of distracting us…the dust forms something that we regret." He said. "Do not listen to them."

I blinked and looked away, as I was still shaken.

"So you saw the ploy of the dust." The gurgle was deathly quiet.

He appeared again, and sauntered towards us.

"You are powerful." He said. "…But are you powerful enough to kill me?"

His head morphed into one of a wolf's and he lunged at us, as we dodged, he grabbed us by the shoulders and we were both thrown into the wall. As I sat up, I noted that my muscles would be feeling this way for a long time. I dodged again as He lunged again, this time he was the one to hit the wall. I grabbed Touya and dragged him away from the writhing corpse.

"…Slice him open." Touya was rubbing his head. "When he comes here."

The head morphed into one of a shark this time, and he was upon us again, but I held the nagamaki up as I ran towards him. I heard a cry from above, and then felt the room get colder for a moment. I looked over my shoulder to see that the slice was indeed deep, and that Touya had frozen the wound. The face of our enemy was back to normal, and he dropped onto the floor. The flesh began to melt and seep down into the wood, and all that was left was the still beating heart, which promptly stopped. I saw a light green glow coming from the heart, so I cut it open with a fingernail. I felt something hard within the muscle, so I plucked it out.

"Touya! I have the stone!" I called.

"Good." He was soon standing beside me. "Now…we can get out of here."

I felt a pain in the back of my head, so I rubbed it gently. When my hand withdrew, I saw that it was covered in blood. I heard some of it drip onto the floor.

"The hell?" I was beginning to feel dizzy.

Touya gritted his teeth and looked at where He had thrown me, and saw that there was a fresh bloodstain.

"You were hit hard when he threw you at the wall." He said. "You must have had too much adrenaline pumping to notice the blood loss. You've lost too much that you're beginning to notice."

His voice was beginning to sound muffled in my ears, and the room began to spin. I could feel myself falling, but it all went black before I could hit the floor.


	7. Chapter 7: The Jagan Eye

Hey guys, sorry for the short break I took. I am intent on finishing this story, but it is a long way. College classes will be starting for me soon. Heh, it feels sort of cool. I published my first story on here when I was in the seventh grade, and with my latest story, I embark on my second year of college. Both work for Yuu Yuu Hakusho. Sorry for the slight shortness of this chapter, but it was kind of important for development, and the title namesake only appears for a few lines, but it produces the important result.

Otakon was freaking amazing. I got to meet my boyfriend's cousin and his friend. It was an all-around great experience. We all saw YYH in a viewing room where everyone applauded whenever a character came on screen.

Anyway guys, here's chapter seven, and happy reading! Love you all!

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><p>Chapter Seven: "The Jagan Eye"<p>

My vision was blurry, which did not adjust, no matter how much I blinked. I heard someone speaking to me, but it came in as a muffled sound. The next thing I knew, there was blackness again. This happened over and over, until I clearly saw Koenma sitting over me.

"Good, you're finally awake." His voice was soft. "You have been out for a day."

"…What's wrong with my head?" I groaned.

"According to Touya, your skull fractured once upon impact with the wall." The deity explained. "Yukina healed it for you, although she said you might feel pain for a day or two."

I noted to thank her the next time I would see her, whenever that would be. The door slid open, and I saw a girl standing there. Her hair was blue and tied in a high tail; her eyes were a lively tint of amethyst.

"Lord Koenma-" There was an air of urgency in her voice, but once she saw that I was awake, she paused. "Hello there, Unaiga! I hope you're feeling better!"

"Botan, please tell me-" The brunette was ignored as the blue-haired girl made her way to my side.

"My name is Botan, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Her voice was smooth and filled with cheer.

I only stared at her. She had to be one of the friendliest people I had ever met.

"Likewise." I said.

Koenma called her again, and she turned to look at him.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Touya has woken up." She said.

"He got knocked out as well? How the heck did we get out?" I was getting nervous that this would have been a dream.

"He carried you all the way back. Touya never stopped; once he got to the dojo, he collapsed. The wound that he had on his chest was worse than he thought." Botan explained.

"Serves him right for being an ass." I inhaled as my bones seemed to grind together. "…I think I deserved that."

"You two aren't getting along well, are you?" Botan asked.

"Eh, Hiei is worse, but at least he keeps his mouth shut." I folded an arm behind my neck.

Koenma chucked while Botan nodded in agreement.

"Touya spoke highly of you before he passed out on the ground. I wonder where his sudden appreciation came from." Koenma explained.

"I would not know. He did most of the fighting, anyway." I said.

"The moment you and Touya killed the creature, all the souls were sent to the Spirit World. This means more paperwork for me, of course."

"Please tell me that you sent them to Hell!" I snarled. "…Those that deserved it, anyway."

Koenma seemed surprised.

"The ones who did commit heinous acts are facing eternal punishment." He assured.

Botan laughed uneasily, looking at my angry face.

"It was rather unpleasant ferrying all of them." She said.

"Ferrying?" I began to sit up.

"Wait, Yukina said that you shouldn't-" Koenma was just getting interrupted all day.

Searing pain spread throughout my body, and I dropped back onto the futon. Curses that I never thought I knew escaped my mouth as the pain continued to throb.

"Oh my." Botan muttered once I was finished. "…But yes, I do ferry the souls of the dead. I am a guide to the Spirit World."

"You're awfully happy for someone who has to take someone away from everything they knew." I felt a small twinge of guilt once I saw that she looked offended. "Tch…sorry."

"I'm sure she can take it. Well, congratulations on completing your first mission, Unaiga; despite that you were knocked out after all was done." Koenma praised. "In fact…"

He reached into his robes and pulled out a necklace. The chain was small, and silver. The pendant was a green, teardrop-shaped stone.

"Here is a prize, for you. It is the stone that you plucked out of the heart." Koenma handed it to Botan.

Before she could put it over my head, I grabbed it from her and stared at it.

"Why would you give this to me?" I asked, running my finger over the smooth surface.

"It'll keep you safe." Koenma said simply. "Well, I'd best be off. Come, Botan. Let her sleep."

"Alright, sir!" She began to follow him, and then looked over her shoulder. "Sleep well, Unaiga, is was so nice meeting you!"

I sighed after they had left, but I slowly sat up, despite the grinding pain. I put the necklace over my head and slipped it around my neck, and looked down at the stone. It seemed to rest nicely on my pale skin, and I found myself smiling a little. I touched it once again before attempting to stand up. There was pain again, but I stifled a grunt; in a few minutes I was on my feet. I gently slid open the door and walked out to see Yuusuke and Kuwabara standing sitting on the porch.

"Long time no see, you two." I croaked.

They both looked over at me, and smiled.

"Hey kiddo! Congrats on completin' your first mission!" Yuusuke said.

"Yeah! I would hug you, but Yukina told me not to, cause of the pain." Kuwabara seemed a little let down. "Should you even be out, in your condition?"

"Well, I'm standing-" I started.

Yuusuke clapped me on the shoulder after he stood up. I screamed at the pain that seared through my body, followed by another string of curses. Birds flew and the fish in the garden seemed to become panicked.

"That does it, get back into your bed and rest!" The brown-eyed teenage scolded me.

"It's so boring in there." I muttered. "Besides, I'm good enough to stand up, and I promise that I won't hurt myself."

The minute I said that, Kurama had appeared from his room. There was a burst of happiness that surged through my body, and the next thing I knew; I was walking over to hug him. I surprised myself, as I did not like physical contact that much. I threw my arms around his neck and rested my head on his chest. I felt him gently put both arms around me in an embrace.

"…What is she, bipolar, or something?" I heard Yuusuke mutter to Kuwabara.

"It's good to see you, again, Unaiga. Congratulations." He said in that calm voice. "I see that you are wearing the spoils of your victory."

Kurama indicated the pendant, and I nodded. I felt at ease with him, and he was the first person I met on the team. He also had an unconditional love for everyone, and was very patient.

"The stuff you taught me helped out a lot. So, thanks." I said sheepishly.

"Don't ya think she should get back to bed, Kurama? Her skull did crack!" Kuwabara pointed out.

Kurama looked at me with a stern expression.

"Indeed. You should be in bed." He put his hands on my shoulder and guided me to my room.

The door was still open, allowing him to walk in and move the futon next to the opening.

"Here. I will leave the door open."

I sighed and lied down, my back facing the boys.

_Kurama was a Mother Hen._

I could hear their whispers from behind, and the lazy droning of their voices and the sound of the water from the nearby stream. I was not tired, so I merely closed my eyes and listened to their conversation. I heard Kuwabara yelp in surprise.

"Hiei! You shouldn't do that! Especially since Unaiga is asleep."

"Hmph." I heard the little demon mutter.

Soon, their voices became lost in the air and I began to feel more tired. My eyes closed, and I fell asleep.

_ "Are you a virgin, girl?" He asked, looking at me with those golden eyes._

_ "Y-yes." I stammered._

_He smiled, showing me his filed teeth._

_ "You have so much to learn." The smile became wider. "You'll be begging for death before the end."_

I leapt from the futon, despite the pain, and heard a grunt as I wrapped my arms around the nearest thing that I could grasp. I slowly looked up to see Touya there, looking very annoyed.

"You continue to talk in your sleep. Stop it." His voice was as cold as ever.

I looked at him; he was visible, despite the shadows cast over his face. I looked out the open door; I could see the full moon in the sky.

"…You don't understand." I hissed. "Why do you always appear in my room?"

"As I have said, you speak so much in your sleep. You babble enough to wake me."

A look of surprise dawned on his face once he saw my face. I could feel sweat running over the skin and my wide eyes did not help.

"You don't understand." I repeated.

I stood up, which hurt considerably less, and I walked outside.

"Was your dream about that man in the dust?" Touya was being too nosy for his own good.

"Whatever you saw; put it out of your mind." I glared at him from over my shoulder. "Why would you care, anyway?"

I heard him exhale, and then he left the room. I then walked into the night and sat on the porch. It felt strange to be so awake in the night, even though I used to be nocturnal. I gently rocked back and forth, bringing my knees to my chin.

"Hn."

I froze and looked to my right, to see Hiei. My eyes narrowed.

"What do you want?" My eyes widened once I saw a small blue glow emit from the center of his forehead, which was covered by the bandage he wore.

"You have very strange dreams, girl."

I blushed slightly, but stood up quickly and assumed my fighting stance.

"…How did you know?"

Hiei smirked.

"I can see into the minds of many."

I did not falter, and my glare became more dangerous.

"Did you see everything?" I felt my anger rising.

My mind was my own! Damn you, Hiei!

"I still can." His eyes closed, and the smirk disappeared.

"Get out!" I hissed, trying to clear my head, with no avail. "How are you doing this?"

The thief's lip twitched, but he took the bandage off of his forehead. A small chill ran up my spine; I saw a single, violet eye where the bandage used to be. It was looking directly at me, yet I could not tear my eyes away from it.

"Why are you even looking at my dreams in the first place?" I shook my head.

"I had to see what was causing you to make such sound. But now I know." Hiei's eyes became colder.

I growled and clenched my fists.

"You miserable bastard!"

"You should be careful of the words you choose. They could be your last." I saw that his hand was resting on the hilt of his katana.

"At least I don't go around and look into the minds of my teammates."

His smirk returned.

"You were a special case. Besides, the others' mental resistances are much stronger."

Hiei disappeared, and I was alone.

"Don't let his words get to you." I heard Kurama nearby.

"I'm trying not to." I had a few choice words to describe Hiei, but I held back. "Anyway, why are you up?"

"I heard raised voices." The redhead smiled. "Hiei probed into your dreams, I see."

I nodded, feeling a small twinge of anger at the reminder.

"He has no business in my mind."

"Hiei just feels that he should look in order to understand." He sat on the edge of the porch. "I see that you have made a speedy recovery in the past few hours. That is good."

I fell in a slump beside him.

"He saw…" I felt the burning of tears in my eyes, and I held them back as long as I could.

A few escaped and hit the floor. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, the touch brought some comfort.

_I despised crying in front of others._

A few moments passed, and Kurama did not say a word.

"Genshi." I spat.

"The man who came after us in Gandara." He stated. "I knew that you associated with him before that."

"Associated? That's an understatement." I was surprised that I was going to tell him everything. "He was my first…in everything."

I looked at Kurama. I had stopped crying, but the remnants of the tears were still there.

"The first kiss…the first fuck."

Fuck. Fuck was the only word to use, since it was as loveless as ice.

Kurama's eyes widened.

"He would…come to me in the night and torment me endlessly. As it went on, he became so mockingly sweet. He was my teacher and my torturer. Through him I learned to pleasure others and felt pain."

I felt his arms around me, embracing me.

"Well, he is dead. And you are safe." He said.

"I am." I said, smiling a little to myself.

This all felt like a dream.

"It's still late." Kurama said, looking up at the moon and then back at me. "…Do you want me to stay with you?"

"That would be nice." I said.

We both went into my room, and he grabbed a spare futon and blanket from the closet. I slid the door shut before lying down. Kurama was a few feet away from me, huddled under a blanket.

For the first time in a while, I felt truly safe.


	8. Chapter 8: Dandelion Dust

Hey guys, sorry again for the delay. I've started college and I am sad to say that I also got writer's block in the process, but that disappeared. This is a nice, simple chapter, I think. Lots of development.

Happy reading!

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><p>Chapter Eight: "Dandelion Dust"<p>

With the recovery of my wounds came more training. As I ran with the others, I noted that Yukina's healing skills were amazing. I felt no more strain in my muscles; in fact, they felt stronger and more flexible. I had noticed that Touya was still in a slight pain, yet he kept his speed. We reached the wooden platforms to the mountain, and Kurama had already jumped onto the nearest one. He slightly bent down to grab me. I jumped, and to my surprise, I landed feet-first onto the wood. Kurama smiled and nodded.

"I told you that you would see the results in due time." He jumped onto the other platform, and I followed.

I continued to jump onto the ledges sequentially, feeling proud that I no longer needed help. I was disappointed, however, that as our fights began in the room, Touya still handed my head to me. He seemed rather silent as we fought: he did not mock me as I continued to lose. Soon, I was completely exhausted and collapsed on my knees. The grainy sand was painful against my skin. He turned around to walk away, and I saw his weak spot.

I finally defeated Touya. All I had to do was sharply poke his back when he was not looking. He crumpled onto the ground like a wounded animal; I could hear him hiss in pain. Soon after, I broke –panicked- and knelt on the sand beside him.

"Are you alright?" I asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

"I will be. Why did you do that?" He turned his head to look at me.

"I saw an opportunity and took it. This means I finally defeated you." I smiled slightly.

"Very sneaky." He sneered. "Is this how you plan on killing the rest of the enemies that we face?"

"For your information, it isn't!" I said.

The others, who were fighting around us, kept going. Punches flew and kicks impacted; I wanted to be as powerful as them. I balled my hands into fists and leapt at Touya, who began to block them.

"Don't," I kept trying to land a hit on him. "You know how hard it is to be the weakest one here?"

I flew into a roundhouse kick and it barely grazed the fabric of his shirt. Touya then grabbed me by the forearms and his face got close to mine. I was looking into his icy blue eyes.

"Then start using your head." He began. "You may have gained strength while you were here, but you lack the strategy to use it."

I blinked, genuinely confused.

"I have been employing a strategy-" Touya interrupted me again.

"That consists of flailing your arms until you hit your opponent. You may have had a part in defeating Him, but that was because you took direct orders from me. We all waited to see how long it would take you to realize your strength and develop a strategy, but that is taking longer than expected."

"Well, if you showed me how, it would have been nice!" I was becoming infuriated.

"Developing strategies is something innate. Take control of yourself." He finally pulled away and let my arms go.

The others did not seem to notice this exchange and kept fighting. Without warning, Touya began throwing punches at me. I barely dodged them and was sent flying into the wall, which I hit. I sighed, rubbing my aching jaw and cringing at the taste of blood in my mouth. I suddenly felt cold, and I saw shards of ice flying at me. I did not have time to dodge these, so they cut my flesh and my clothes. The shards did not cause the worst pain in the world, but they stung. I could tell that he could have made them deadlier, and he would have blown them to my vitals. I saw the Ice Blade form around his arm, and he tauntingly put the point underneath my jaw.

"We have been in this scenario so many times." The blade melted away, sending cold water over my skin.

I closed my eyes and made a sound once the icy water touched me, running down to my stomach.

"Many of us are beginning to wonder if Kurama was too kind."

Before I knew it, I had lunged at him and surprised myself with how fluid my movements were. I let go of my nervousness and remembered everything that Genkai had taught me before I learned magic. Blocking punches, hitting weak spots, everything. I had caught his fists with my hands through most of the fighting, and even when the punches landed, I only slid a few inches away from him. Of course, Touya had caught all of my hits, but I sent my leg out for a scissor kick that would catch him on the chest, which succeeded. He slid back on the sand, and looked at me. I saw that the others had finished their rounds already and were looking at us.

"Got your second hit against 'em, now." Chu praised. "Told ya it would work, Shishi, now pay up!"

I saw that Shishiwakamaru looked rather sour, but he reached into his robes and took out a few red crystals and put them in Chu's expectant hand.

"…Pay up?" I asked.

"Well, let's just say we all noticed how vicious you could be in the arena when someone pisses you off." Rinku said happily. "So we kinda came up with a system where Touya would beat you up, get you mad, and then you kick some ass."

"Shishi didn't believe it, so we made a little bet." Chu counted the crystals and placed them in his pocket.

I blushed slightly and immediately looked at my feet.

"Well…I guess that I'm only good at fighting when angry." My mouth was dry.

"Of course you are." I heard Genkai's stern tone. "The problem with you is that you hesitate to fight, and when you do, it's really half-assed."

My face got redder, but I did not dare talk back to her. I knew that she was right, and I did not want to become a pile of cinders.

"Whenever you hear something that drives you over the edge, you let it all go. The nervousness, the hesitation, and that is why you performed well." She continued. "You need to harness that anger and let go of all hesitation. If you hesitate, you die."

"I understand." I said quietly.

I was silent for the whole trek back home. Genkai was right, and I was pretty scared of trying to harness my anger. Yuusuke took my silence as a sign that something was wrong, so he slowed down to be at my pace.

"You seem shaken. With what the old bat said, I'm not surprised." I heard some sort of bang, and Yuusuke quickly dodged a bullet of blue energy.

I looked at him in awe for a moment before I collected myself.

"I'll try to harness my energy, then." I gave him a weak smile.

"And remind me to never, ever piss you off." He grinned back and ran at full speed once again.

_Yuusuke Urameshi was a strange, strange man._

From the slight crinkle in Shishiwakamaru's nose that appeared when I passed by, I knew that I needed a bath. I headed to the bathing room immediately, and took a little smell of the black shirt I had been wearing. It smelled rich of the earth and of light sweat. Even though it was not offensive, I pulled back at the strength of the odor. I shimmied out of the rest of my clothes and slunk into the water. I saw a little bottle at the rim of the tub, and sniffed it. It was a light, sweet scent that was reminiscent of the berries that Kuwabara loved to eat. They were little red berries, with little bumps all over them, a thin vine coming out of each one. I opened the bottle and poured it into the water, and it began to bubble with sweet-smelling suds. I popped a few of them with my finger, and laughed lightly. I embraced the foam, sighing happily.

"I'm so easily amused." I said to myself, lathering the stuff into my hair.

After for what seemed like an hour with playing in the water, it began to drain. I was disgruntled that I was still covered in suds, but a jet of water erupted from the tub, knocking me to my feet and showering me.

"Shit!" My voice echoed throughout the walls.

I climbed out of the tub, dripping wet, and saw myself in the mirror. I stopped suddenly and stood there, frozen. I looked a little different, and it was months since I had seen my own reflection. My hair was still short, and Shishiwakamaru's work was still visible. I was covered with lean muscle, and the voluptuous figure that my former master had prized so much was more accentuated. My breasts were still a little pointy and my skin was still quite fair. All of the scars that I had acquired from being attacked by the dog and Genshi that day were almost gone. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, and walked up to it.

"You're really free, you know." I said in a soft voice that I never knew I had.

I felt some tears burn into my eyes, and my vision got blurry. I immediately wiped them away. I put on my robe and headed out, and I literally bumped into Koenma as I walked out the door. He was holding the stone and the necklace in his hands.

"Lord Koenma?" I began.

"Never take this off, okay?" He put it over my head. I noted the slight worry in his voice. "Never."

"Okay…" I looked at him.

I did not question his methods since I knew that I would get a cryptic response in return.

"Unaiga, after you get dressed, I would like to see you in the Inner Gardens, please." He started walking to the exit door.

I ran into my room and quickly threw on some of my clothes. Koenma did not sound too urgent, but it was a good idea not to keep the Prince of the Spirit World waiting.

The Inner Gardens seemed calmer with Koenma sitting on the grass, who was watching the setting sun. I slowly approached him and sat down beside him. We were quiet for a while, watching the many clouds become tinted with orange, red and yellow.

"Are you enjoying it here?" He broke the silence, turning to look at me.

"Yes. I am." A lovely peace filled my mind, and it caused me to sigh quietly.

"Now, I had overheard what you said to Kurama last night. About Genshi."

The peace still did not leave me as I turned to look at him.

"Tell me. Were you kidnapped and brought to the brothel, or did you go there on your own free will?"

"I was willing." I finally said; the peace within my mind breaking. "Sure, go on and call me a slut, at least I made good money."

"I would not dream of calling you that." Koenma plucked a dandelion from the ground and blew on it, sending the seeds across the grass.

"I did regret it later on, as you can see." I felt flustered by the Prince's unnaturally calm response.

"Not immediately?" Koenma had plucked another.

I sighed and nodded my head.

"I could deal with Genshi, and most of the clients."

"Most? Okay, okay, I'll stop asking!" He exclaimed after he saw the look I gave him.

There was another round of comfortable silence, of us looking at the setting sun. I felt a small trickle of sadness flow from my heart once I remembered that Mei used to look at the setting sun from our window. It disappeared once Koenma got up and pulled me along with him.

"I suppose it's time for dinner. Come."

We both walked into the dojo to be surprised with a meal of rice and fish.

_I saw Mei again, in my dreams. She was running away from the evil dogs and was torn apart when they got to her. Genshi's phantom visited me as well, with the memory of when he was training me in the ways of the bedchamber. His expression was smug, smirking as I blushed and groaned on top of him. These different memories replayed at random, tormenting me as I slept._

It all began to fade away once I felt someone touch my back. The horrible images slowly burned away, and a comforting feeling made its way into my body. I opened my eyes to see Touya kneeling beside me, his hand exactly where I felt it.

"Don't touch me." I said, my tone betraying the terror in my eyes.

"Your dreams are getting worse, I see." He removed his hand, and the comforting feeling disappeared along with it.

I blushed slightly at the thought of his touch comforting me, and I was glad that it was dark so that he could not see my red face.

"What of it, Touya?" I tried to sound calmer, but I sounded rather pathetic instead.

He sighed and put his hand on his forehead.

"You keep telling me that I don't understand." Touya then looked at me with expressionless eyes. "What I'm doing is trying to understand."


	9. Chapter 9: Catharsis

Hello, everyone. I am sorry that this chapter came by so late, and it is shorter than the others as well. College has been busy, but oh, such as life. I plan on finishing this thing, but it might take a while because of schooling. Anyway, happy reading, everyone.

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><p>Chapter Nine: "Catharsis"<p>

I looked at Touya with disbelief, suspicious of the sudden and near-kind words he had said to me.

"What?" I asked, even though I understood full-well what he said.

He gave an exasperated sigh.

"You always snap that I don't understand. Be glad that I'm actually trying." Touya sat cross-legged on the floor.

I blushed again and sat up. I would have snapped at him, or made a smart remark, but none came to mind.

"You don't have to lose sleep over it." I muttered, bringing the covers over my frame.

"I lose sleep no matter what. I'm beginning to consider changing rooms." He smirked.

Even though he was only joking, I resisted the urge to be contrary.

"Well, expect trying to understand to take a while." I finally said. "I don't open up easily."

I saw Touya raise his eyebrows for a moment.

"Then why do you speak to Kurama?" Touya seemed to be careful with his next words.

"Well, he saved me, and is like a brother." I explained. "You and I do not get along, you see."

"You harnessing your anger should help with that." He said coldly.

I looked taken aback and was about to say a few choice words, but he was right. I then remembered that I wanted to ask him something.

"When I awoke from my injuries a while back, Koenma said that you spoke highly of me." I began. "Why?"

"Our mission was a success, thanks to you." Touya did not even hesitate. "You proved yourself to me."

I smiled to myself and blushed again. I was very thankful that it was dark.

"…What time is it?" I changed the subject. "You must be tired, and your back."

I was about to get up and kneel by him to touch it, but I did not.

"That does not matter." Touya waved his hand. "But you need your sleep. I shouldn't have kept you from it."

He left my room before I could say another word, so I lied back down on the futon. I tried to get back to sleep, but I could not. Touya was occupying my mind at the moment. I tried to figure out why he would bother to take his precious time to try and understand, but I guess he had his reasons. It was not like him to waste his time with something that did not hold his interest.

_Was Touya interested in me?_

I snorted at the thought, but then I was surprised that I felt sad when I told myself that he could not be. Even though it took a long time, I managed to clear my mind, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

I was awoken by the smell of Chu in the morning. He had not set one step in my room before I was standing on the futon.

"Koenma wants 'ta see ya, dear." He said.

"What, again?" I rolled my eyes. "He **always** wants to see me. Do you or any of the others get summoned this often?"

"Naw, love. But at any rate, it's important." He withdrew after smiling at me.

I did not bother to brush my hair or pull on more decent clothes. Koenma did not care, anyway.

"You wanted to see me again, sir?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

The prince was standing in front of a small window, his arms crossed. The room was dark, as only a few of the candles were lit. The shadows cast an eerie light over the large statue.

"I have disturbing news." His voice was sullen, and to the point.

I felt a small spike of anxiousness in my stomach.

"I have reports from the Makai that your old mistress is searching for you. She does not know that you are in the Human World, but it does raise the question of why she needs you so badly." Koenma said.

The spike became an ocean of panic. I felt that my hands and legs began to shake.

"She could have replaced you with another woman. I realized that you fetched a large price when you worked there, but the woman's greed seems to have turned into obsession." As he continued to speak, my hands got colder.

I lost control of my legs, so I fell. My knees were to numb to feel the sharp hardness of the wood. I felt Koenma's hand on my shoulder, and I was being pressed against something. I looked up to see that the prince was hugging me. A sudden wave of energy coursed through me, making me warmer, calmer.

"You react so violently." He said gently. "I have sent in a spy. I will tell you everything they report."

"Good." I said. "Kill her, while you're at it."

"Oh, I would love to. Unfortunately, the pacts between the Reikai and the Makai forbid this. We can only eliminate your mistress if she poses a threat to the masses." Koenma explained.

I left his embrace, yet he remained in his spot.

"Who did you send in?" I asked.

"That remains confidential, as well." He sounded bitter. "But now, tell me everything."

"…What?" I asked, getting frustrated.

"Tell me everything about the brothel. Your mistress, that man named Genshi, your friend named Mei." Koenma was looking right into my eyes. "You're so scared of going back. You have only given me bits and pieces of your story. You will be able to move on if you tell me."

I inhaled sharply and looked at the floor, my hands balled into fists. Even though my throat was so dry, I began to speak.

"I joined that brothel on my own free will. It was a very foolish act of rebellion against my family. That, and I thought that a glamorous lifestyle would come with it."

I saw Koenma purse his lips. I continued.

"My mistress left me in the care of Genshi. He…trained me, among other things. Genshi would also come to me in the night, with the intent to rape and torment. Mei was also a new buy, and we shared the same room. We did get to know each other well. More than I would like to, sometimes." I looked at Koenma to see if there was any sign of discomfort. There was none, and I continued. "After fifty years of staying in that brothel, she and I devised a plan to escape. It took months to develop, and we thought it was foolproof. It wasn't. A few crazed, yet loyal employees had heard of our plans, and they told her. As you know, Mei did not make it out alive."

Koenma nodded.

"Again, I am sorry for your loss. However, you left out one thing. Kurama had told me that you were terrified of being in Gandara. Tell me why."

I froze and looked at him with empty eyes. My throat went dry.

"Yomi was about to buy me." I squeaked.

"…What?" Koenma asked, craning over to hear.

"Yomi could have bought me, if I did not have the gall to decline." I said, louder.

Koenma looked surprised.

"He was a client, then? He visited the brothel regularly?"

"No! Our Mistress took us to his palace. It was only for a night." I said. "I only had one night with Yomi. He wanted to buy me, but I said no."

I was glad that Koenma did not ask me why. He nodded and stood up.

"Unaiga, I will be gone for a month. I want you to keep training. Push yourself."

I nodded my head. I breathed in as I stood up. I felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted from me, talking to Koenma was what I needed. I left the room, and noticed that Touya was standing nearby.

"Eavesdropping, are we?" I asked.

Touya glared at me before walking along.

"I have no interest at all. Yuusuke or Kuwabara would be the ones do eavesdrop."

I was surprised at his sudden coldness. It was a switch from the near-warmth of the morning.

_Perhaps that conversation was all a dream?_


End file.
